We are so, so happy to live in seminary housing. Seriously, we couldn't be happier to live in a community that understands EXACTLY what you're going through financially, spiritually, emotionally, etc.!
If you've rented before, though, you understand some of the not so exciting aspects. I so wish we could paint our walls... I dream of updated cabinets and hardware... and most recently I despised our 'landscaping'. (No before pictures, unfortunately!) Imagine with me... scraggly boxwoods, half-dead, broken off, weeds galore, good ol' Mississippi clay not conducive to life except for moss...
I literally encouraged the neighborhood kids to jump on and break the bushes in hopes they would just die completely!
My sweet, sweet hubs helped me fix my sad little flower bed a couple weekends ago, and I'm so happy to share it with you!
After pulling our bushes out with our car (Hubs wrapped straps around the bushes, connected them to the car, and yanked them right out!), we broke up the clay a bit. We were fortunate to have recently had rain so the ground was still soft.
Using pallet wood and stakes, we formed our raised box. The front view (it's hard to tell...) is about 3 or 4 pieces of wood. We added compost and topsoil to the dirt and mixed it up. I chose all perennial plants so they will (hopefully) stay/come back again. There's something about having flowers that will die after their season that makes me sad. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful! I just wanted to start out with flowers and plants that I would get to enjoy for awhile! I may plant some annuals in some pots I have on the other side of my door later...
After planting everything, we laid down some mulch. We were fortunate to have a neighbor just outside of our townhouses that had a tree stump ground up just a day before we needed mulch. She was so sweet to let us grab as much as we wanted! Though mulch is not very expensive, it's always exciting to save a little bit!
Finally, I added a couple fun details. The plain wood was bugging me a little bit, so I painted an alternating triangle pattern along the front of the box with acrylic paint. Though the paint won't last forever, I look forward to the natural distressed/aged look after rain and sun do their thang.
I also added a chicken wire frame behind my ivy so it has a somewhere to climb! I'm probably most excited about my ivy! I LOVE the crawling look of the viny plants.
Walking up to my front door is SO much more exciting now! My plants are still little and wimpy, but I can't wait to watch everything grow. I'm excited about tending my little garden... I just hope I can keep everything alive!
For our whole project, we spent around $40. And most of that was for the plants! Not too shabby!
Thanks for letting me share my little garden with you, friends!
-Jess
P.S. We are all okay after the storms yesterday. We are so grateful for God's protection in such a scary situation. I know others were greatly affected... Praying for restoration and peace in Mayflower, Vilonia, Tupelo, Pearl, Tupelo, and some towns in Alabama.
